The Irish standard., 1887-08-13

l
trate these deeds we would read in
modern times of something that might
even equal in effect what took place in
! Sicily when the people in one night de.
stroyed the prestige and power of their
French oppressors. The better the
fight you make now in defence Of your
natural right as human beings and OF
your legal rights, the better terms you
will get 10y and by when the day of final
settlement of the land question comes.
| That is not far off, and you Will be fools
it you don't follow the manly example
of the people Of Bodyke in order that
you may learn the good feelings of your
own countrymen and the sympathy of
| the British democracy. and win terms
for yourself which will enable you in
the future to live in security under your
own rooftrees. / have not been very
fattering to you, but nevertheless I
have said out what was in my mind,
and I don't care one jot whether you
are pleased at it Or otherwise. Had I
been inside any Of these houses, and
| were I called upon to see my father or
my mother, my sister or my brother,
turned out in that brutal manner by
these r,lffians, who are obeying the
orders OF Bodyke, they would perpetrate
those outrages over NV dead body. I
am speaking for myself. I don't want
to speak for you, for I believe until the
end Of the campaign you'll do what you
have done before, cheering Father Dill
! lon. groaning Hamilton and calling the
ernergency1nen names, and be evicted,
and get very little sympathy, and the
'devil's cure' to you. Mr.. Davitt, in
closing, said: [ would be very sorry if
we separated with any unkind feeling
existing amongst us. l don't think
that Wicklow men would think worse
of me for speaking out what honestly
feel. have not made it practice to
flatter the Irish people; while / have
tried to do a man IS part in the National
struggle, and while I have never
shirked my share of danger or obloquy,
I have never hesitated for q moment to
tell my people cav mind about them.
whether it disparages their actions or
praises their conduct. l admit that the
people Of Coolgreauy have stood to-
gether Loyalty, and to that extent, any
how they have embarrassed the evict-
ors Unlike in former years when
scarcely q member Of The press would
be present to witness an eviction, and
when the people would scarcely think
it their business to look in, these
eyictions had attracted good deal Of
attention. I candidly confess am dis
appoint: Tread bout W exford when
I was a boy, and like, many of you,
wished I lived in chose days Of '9s,when
Father Murphy dealt with the invaders
of our country in the only way legal
lzed scoundrelism can we'll understand.
But what I am anxious TOO see the ten
ant farmers doing now is to give every
possible natural resistance to the invas-
on Of the rights of the homestead. You
know in America they have a home.
stead law which prevents any man TAX
ing from household what is necessary
to earn an honest livelihood with. No
matter how much man in America
owes a creditor that creditor dare not
come and turn him and his family from
beneath his rooftree, Well, this is a
Christian and moral law, and we re-
quire such a law in ireland when we
will have the right to make laws our
selves. The sooner we lay down that
principle and stand by it, tie sooner
will we have the protection for the
roofs that shelter our children. You
are fighting the battle of those who toll
and spin, the millions of workers in
England, Wales and Scotland, and the
more courageous]y you stand for this
glorious principle the stronger
will grow the sympathy from the
other side of the channel. Well, want
the tenant farmers to stand up like
men. If this work of determination
goes on for the next five years, as it
went on for the last thirty years, where
will be the population Of this country?
W hat will be the use of having Home
Rule there are no people in the coun-
try? We are facing the most terrible
crisis if that ever met the path Of the
Irish National movement. We have to
contest every inch of ground with our
enemies. Therefore, every tenant
farmer in this district or in any part of
Ireland, is not only called upon to fight
for his inalienable rights, but to fight
for the national cause, by showing re-
sistance which will encourage the re-
malnder Of his class throughout the
length and breadth of Ireland to emu
late his conduct. After saying these
few additional words to you, [ will not
detain you any longer, but repeat the
advice of Father Dunphy to come in
your numbers tomorrow. If you can
do nothing else it is better to come and
look on than to remain away and refuse
to give any sympathy to those to be